Work Holiday Thread

[CivicBlues]

Originally Posted by donk.

You will be fine without cathedral, as an alternative if your schedule changes, Three Sisters, on the west coast was actually nicer in my opinion. (Need to come at low tide tho)

Nah, we arrived late to the crossing, went to Taranaki waterfalls instead. 1hr walk from the gravel carpark

Private hot tub in hotel is always worth it dawg

Yeah the natural hot pools (both the ones you swim in, and just walk around) both have a fee of about 40$ per person. I mean it is a business, plus the maintenance costs and staffing ain't cheap. Some people spend 40$ in two days on cigarettes....

We went to Polynesian Spa, and Waiotapo Thermal Wonderland. I would highly suggest both.
The Spa is just a bunch of outdoors "natural" hot tubs with minerals, nice to lay around after x hours / days of driving.
The Thermal Wonderland was crazy, the colors of the pools really are neon, never seen anything like it before.

If you want to save money, there's a bunch of free thermal attractions and natural hot pools, we just didn't have time, crunched time budget for us.

At the end of the day, your blowing 1500 on flights, another 1500 on a place to sleep, and 1500 on food, PER PERSON, what's an extra 150-300$ in entrance fees.

You can pay off those entrance fees by working one extra day back home, ggnnaamm saayyyiinn. Plus, when will be the next time you get to see some of this stuff?

Where'd you get $1500 flights? Or flights almost cost 2K each! lol

Yeah I'll probably end up forking over for it, just weird seeing how things that would be free at home (going hiking, etc) are charged for over there - I'm mainly talking about natural features and not actual man-made attractions like hot tubs.

[donk.]

Originally Posted by CivicBlues

Where'd you get $1500 flights? Or flights almost cost 2K each! lol

Yeah I'll probably end up forking over for it, just weird seeing how things that would be free at home (going hiking, etc) are charged for over there - I'm mainly talking about natural features and not actual man-made attractions like hot tubs.

Air Canada, direct flight, probably off momondo.
Flights prices vary alot for when you go, and when you book. I watched prices bounce 1500-2100 for about a month, then they dropped to 1400 about 3 months prior to leaving. You can use indicators that show low/med/high price charts, and book accordingly. Or even set up price alarms. (Best 2-4 months in advance)

Im going to a wedding in japan in May, prices have been bouncing 1250-2000 over the last 3 months, was holding off because japan keeps closing their border. If it dips to 13-1400 range again il buy. Or il get fucked and prices will stay at 2000 now that I've said this lol....

I think your looking at the wrong natural attractions, or "options" of tours.
Hiking is free, shuttle ain't.
Fancy natural guiser with walkpaths and gift store = money. Vs 1hr drive away from city, plus 30 min walk to other geiser = free
I think alot of places also promote spending your money, when you search "worm cave" the first 5 google options are paid tours. Then towards the bottom there's some forum for how to do it for free

Just my opinion

[Gerbs]

Nice, it'd close the financial gap nicely if I can get a decent wage from the WHV in Australia. Makes it more appealing, juggling the opportunity cost makes it hard to do but at the same time you know you should do it.

[CivicBlues]

Your salary will likely be higher in Australia as well. At least in Sydney/Melbourne that is.

[Gerbs]

Yeah, doing a quick google search, it's almost 22% higher across the board for all roles. But I presume everything is 20% pricier. The jobs that are willing to do working holiday visas are offering 30% less though lol.

[CivicBlues]

Sydney was very pricey 12 years ago compared to home, though I think Vancouver can give it a run for it's money these days.

Also keep in mind they force you to save 10% of your income into a "Superannuation" fund. I hired a local accountant to help me get it out when I left and settle any back taxes.

[donk.]

Originally Posted by Gerbs

Yeah, doing a quick google search, it's almost 22% higher across the board for all roles. But I presume everything is 20% pricier. The jobs that are willing to do working holiday visas are offering 30% less though lol.

I would gladly take a 30% pay cut, to live in a place where its warm and sunny 80% of the year

[Gerbs]

Originally Posted by donk.

I would gladly take a 30% pay cut, to live in a place where its warm and sunny 80% of the year

If I move over permanently, we'd be getting a 30% pay raise

Seems to be the play, I really wanna move somewhere with sun year round.

[CivicBlues]

Yeah that's why no one from Australia would ever consider living somewhere like Whistler right?

I mean the sun is great and all, it's not so great at the height of summer when the ENTIRE fucking country is on fire and it's 40 degrees out on the coast. Also you need to wear sunscreen all the time because it's got the highest rates of skin cancer in the world. Oh and freak rainstorms occur all the time and cause major disruptions and flooding

But then again BC is in the same shithouse too now with climate change so who knows.

[donk.]

Originally Posted by CivicBlues

it's not so great at the height of summer when the ENTIRE fucking country is on fire and it's 40 degrees out on the coast.

The orange glow at night was quite beautiful 3 years ago actually, homeowners in the area would not agree tho....

[CivicBlues]

Oh hey another question for you donk.

Does NZ do that annoying thing where some places tack on a 1-3% fee for using your Credit Card like Aus? I see it's being done when I try and book the Interisland ferry in advance. What do you use for payments?

[donk.]

Originally Posted by CivicBlues

Oh hey another question for you donk.

Does NZ do that annoying thing where some places tack on a 1-3% fee for using your Credit Card like Aus? I see it's being done when I try and book the Interisland ferry in advance. What do you use for payments?

I'm pretty sure that's on your credit card, not the business your buying from. Most CCs charge a conversion fee every time you buy with foreign currency, pretty sure mine is 2% on RBC MasterCard.

With that said, I didn't pay attention, as long as the price showed up within reason on my account that's good enough for me. Just the cost of travel....

For best cash conversion rates, get money in advance from your bank. The airport currency exchanges enjoy raping and pillaging by an extra 10%.
Or use a NZ ATM, I think the conversion is close to bank rate.

[CivicBlues]

Nope, not the CC fee, it's what business do to recover it. In Australia there are some places like hotels that will tack on a 1-3% service charge on top of your total bill if you pay by CC. They don't if you use EFTPOS (Their version of Interac), which I can't any longer because I don't have a Bank Account there anymore.

In Canada most businesses eat up the cost and it's paid by everyone regardless of payment method.

[donk.]

Sounds like you know more than me dawg, just add on 50$ to your 3000$ spending spree budget

[blkgsr]

Originally Posted by CivicBlues

Sydney was very pricey 12 years ago compared to home, though I think Vancouver can give it a run for it's money these days.

Also keep in mind they force you to save 10% of your income into a "Superannuation" fund. I hired a local accountant to help me get it out when I left and settle any back taxes.

I've got a few grand still at my bank in perth from like 8 years ago....sure hope it's still there. really need to call and try to get that sent to me. any tips?

[CivicBlues]

Originally Posted by blkgsr

I've got a few grand still at my bank in perth from like 8 years ago....sure hope it's still there. really need to call and try to get that sent to me. any tips?

I just called my bank (Commonwealth) up one day and asked they EFT the balance to my Canadian account. Gave me some codes and took it to my bank here it was easy peasy

[CivicBlues]

Got back from NZ a couple weeks ago. It rained a shit ton while we were there but still an epic trip and epic country. It's like if BC and Hawaii mashed itself together. Fav spots were Tongariro, Kaikoura, Milford Sound, and Lake Tekapo Can totally see myself living there one day. Here's a few snaps:

Auckland


Rotorua


Waimangu


Huka Falls


Tongariro


Fur Seal, Kaikoura


Kaikoura


Fox Glacier


Fantail bird, Blue Pools


The Remarkables mountains, Queenstown


Clay Cliffs


Milford Sound


Dolphins, Milford Sound


Mt. Cook


Lake Tekapo

[donk.]

Jesus you went everywhere, even I did not go to half those places

[CivicBlues]

Yeah, put 4000 klicks on the rental car odometer in 3 weeks. That's ok, not a conventional "relaxing" holiday but I do like my rural drives.

[68style]

Those pictures are phenomenal, thanks for sharing!!

[Eff-1]

I have heard NZ is one of the easier places to get a visa to go and live/work there if your occupation happens to be one of the ones on their published list:

https://skillshortages.immigration.govt.nz/

[Hondaracer]

What a weird combination of environments. Your comparison of a BC/Hawaii blend looks perfect lol

[68style]

I think NZ is one of the only places in the world (if not the only place in the world?) that has an example of every single type of ecosystem?

[CivicBlues]

Don't think I saw a true desert, though they did have a section they called a "desert" but really just looked like something out of the South Okanagan. But yeah a lot of landscapes that just don't really go together in your mind. You can be walking thru a rainforest and look up and see glaciers (pic 8). Or have snow-capped coastal mountains like you see here, but the ocean is turquoise blue like in the tropics (pic 7).

Not to mention miles and miles of country that looks straight outta the classic Windows 95 background:



It's no wonder they chose NZ to film the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies:

[bcrdukes]

I think you mean Windows XP.